Over time coral reefs have established around the cone at shallow depth, while the caldera became a lagoon.
The ridge themselves are submerged about a meter below the water surface.
Photo credit:NASA
Mataiva Atoll is inhabited but sparsely populated.
Its only village Pahua straddles a narrow pass that connects the lagoon with the sea.
The pass at Pahua is 110 meters long but only a few feet deep and not navigable.
Much of the rest of the 10-kilometer-long atoll is covered with forest.
These channels give the atoll its name.
Mataiva means Nine Eyes, an allusion to its nine channels.
Mataiva inhabitants doesnt want the same fate to befall on their paradise.
Instead, their economy is fueled mostly through vanilla and coconut cultivation, fishing and tourism.
Photo credit:www.route-voyages.com
The village of Pahua.
